Scattered Memories
by Akilina-chan
Summary: Bruised and battered, he was found lying in an alleyway. They had taken him to the hospital, but the wrong one. They asked, but he can only always remember one thing. His name. Living every day over and over, and now it's a rescue mission.
1. Chapter 1

I'll keep this short and simple, since you all probly want to read this here story. Right? If not, read it anyway!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts in any way nor do I own Final Fantasy 7. I wish I could own them..sadly I don't. Haven't found the contract on Ebay or in the game cases either. Maybe Tetsuya Nomura will mail them to me. Wishful thinking, yes?

Oh yeah, if you've been on the computer for more than 4 hours and it's still daylight out, go outside! You'll rot your braincells to fangirling! Not that that's a bad thing, but...oh whatever. Stay on the computer. Be ungrateful to all the trees that provide you oxygen by using electricity which burns coal to produce! Burning coal produces smoke which kills the trees! Yeah, you just stay on the computer. Leave your bathroom light on too, while you're at it. Yeah, you do that. (read the story before you get off though.)

Just here to put a smile on your face. :)

* * *

A scattered memory that's like a far off dream. A far off dream that's like a scattered memory. Something that's definitely there, but very unreachable. He couldn't remember anything. Everything was a blur. Images rushed about in his head like pieces of a puzzle. It was missing too many pieces and flying by far too fast for him to put them together.

He sat, alone and cold, on a Chicago bus stop in the middle of fall. He couldn't remember where he was. He knew he needed to be here though, he just couldn't remember why. Just then, he started to remember. He was abandoned and had nowhere to go..no. That wasn't it. He had...run away? Yes! That was it. He'd run away from his home. Oh! His mother and father must be worried sick! Why had he run away though? Why was he in Chicago?

Someone brushed up against him in their rushing to get where they needed to be and just like that, his entire thought process, all his revelations and musings, were gone. His mind was blank.

"Where am I?"

* * *

The night was colder than usual and most of the residents were snuggled warm in their beds, resting for their upcoming work day. The streets were dark, save for the usual streetlight or glowing neon Open/Closed sign. Some, however, decided to go out and have a few drinks before bed time. This is where you find Reno, a very drunken red head, who, unfortunately, has work right at nine in the morning. It is currently two in the morning.

As he staggered to and fro, trying to get to his car so he could call up his coworker, he noticed something in the alleyway. 'Trash..' he figured, fumbling for his keys. He checked his pockets for them, noticed they were gone, but pulled out his cell phone instead. Reno giggled to himself before hitting the speed dial for Rude. Someone came out of the alleyway looking back and forth rather suspiciously. The man eyed Reno and when he didn't do anything but eye his cell phone, the man grinned and ran off as fast as he could.

Reno thought it odd that a man would randomly come out of an alley but hey, this was Chicago. Anything could happen. He waited standing by his car still intoxicated by all the alcohol he drank. "The trash is moving. Trash dudn't move like that, yo."

"Reno." came Rude's reply.

"Holy bamboo, dude. The trash in the alley is moving."

"What do you want, Reno?" Said person thought for a moment and leaned back against his car. Oh! That's right, he needed a ride.

"I need a ride, yo." He giggled again.

"I'll be right there." For someone like Rude, who most definitely did not like being awoken by a phone call at two in the morning, it was unusual for him to not put up a fight or at least some sort of argument. Reno thought it weird, but Rude had been acting strange lately. Reno dismissed the train and stopped thinking, opting to just stare into the alley. C'mon, trash moving? How cool is that?

Rude arrived without a word. Reno, still standing in the wind, didn't notice Rude come up behind him and lay a hand on his shoulder. Rude, sensing some discomfort from his friend, spoke up. "Come on, Reno or I'll leave you here."

"Hey, Rude. I don't think that's trash." Rude just stared at the red head. He knew Reno could somewhat hold his alcohol, but this time he just seemed completely smashed. It was just trash and Rude was going to prove it.

Rude walked past Reno with a huff and crossed the wide concrete sidewalk into the darkness of the alleyway. A rustling took his attention from a couple trash cans to a large black trash bag just laying there on the ground. He bent down to get a better look and was taken by surprise when a very angry tabby cat lashed out at him, knocking his sunglasses off of his face and causing a scratch on his cheek. Even if he was a couple yards away, Reno saw the whole thing and burst out into laughter.

Rude stood up from his crouch and repositioned his sunglasses but not before he noticed that underneath the trash bag was a body. His demeanor showed nothing of surprise, having dealt with this kind of stuff before. He motioned for Reno to come over, which he did with no trace of being drunken only a minute ago.

"What's up?" Reno asked nonchalantly. He hadn't yet noticed the stark naked body Rude had uncovered. The body was of a boy, blonde and had the build of a 15 year old. Rude, being the relatively kind person he is, shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over the unconscious form in front of him.

"Call the hospital." Reno looked down and snickered but held an air of discomfort. "Told ya so, yo"

Rude shook his head and grabbed Reno's phone out of his jacket pocket. He called the company hospital, told them what had supposedly happened, where they were, and who they were (just to assure a fast arrival) They worked for Rufus Shinrah of the Shinrah company. The Shinrah company was one of the biggest companies in the world. Rufus owned practically everything. The electric companies, banks, hospitals, security, even a small food franchise, he owned it all. Rude and Reno were one of the few who ran security for Rufus' main building. They were quite high up in the company scale.

The ambulance arrived, picked up the battered and now conscious boy, and drove off. Rude had to drag Reno to his car to make him move from his spot in the sidewalk. Rude didn't know what had gotten into the red head, but he assumed he was just tired.

"What'll happen to him?" Reno asked, in a daze. Suddenly it clicked for Rude. Reno had been in a similar predicament when he was around that age. Rufus had took it upon himself to take Reno in and train him to what he was today. Reno probably didn't want the boy to end up like himself. Despite only being security guards for Rufus, the job was horrendous.

"We'll take tomorrow off and go and visit him in the morning. All right?" Reno nodded and Rude turned his attention back to the empty roads.

* * *

Later that morning, Rude stayed true to his word and drove off toward the large white hospital with Reno half asleep in the passenger seat. The receptionist gave them the room number without a fuss, everyone knew who they were, but politely informed them that they were still running 'tests'.

"What kinda tests? He's just a kid we found beat up in an alley. They shouldn't be runnin' no damn tests!"

"Reno," Rude warned in a dangerously low voice. They were in the children's sector of the hospital. "watch your language." Reno shrugged and stalked off like James Bond to the correct room, causing the children who could see him from their rooms to giggle in enjoyment. Rude smiled at Reno's antics. He understood what it was like to be in a hospital. Bleak and dreary with no one but the too happy nurses and white white walls to keep them company.

Rude caught up to a frustrated Reno who was being sternly but very politely that he could not enter the room.

"Whattaya mean I can't go in cause of some tests? He's a kid! You shouldn't be runnin' no da-" Rude cut him off before he could swear again.

"What's wrong?" Rude calmly asked the nurse. She let out a relieved sigh to see someone who wouldn't yell at her and explained for what felt like the fiftieth time what was happening.

"As you can see, Sir, no one is permitted in this area because of some complications we have been having with the boy whose name is Roxas. We've diagnosed a severe case of amnesia and a fractured wrist." As the nurse continued to ramble on about what they knew about Roxas' condition, Reno snuck behind her and into the room. Rude gave him an unseen glare and smirked when he saw Reno shiver. The red head promptly turned around and stuck his tongue out at him.

Reno saw what he normally would have in a hospital. The hospital-gown clad boy was sitting in a white hospital bed surrounded by hospital stuffs and a doctor was at the end of the bed talking to him in a bored voice. The boy, in an equally bored manner, recited back what the doctor at the end had told him. Roxas looked over to Reno and waved, happy to see someone other than a doctor.

"What's up, yo?" Reno said, glad to see the boy didn't look too bad. He had a bruise on his cheek, a wrist in a cast, and his arm had a gash on it. The gash had been sewn up and looked healthy so Reno was satisfied.

"The doctor keeps asking me the same question over and over again. It's nice to see someone else who doesn't want to ask me, 'who are you?'." The doctor, who was relieved to see someone else other than the bored look of the blonde teen, scribbled away on his clipboard. To see Roxas converse with someone else other than him would be a great help in observing his memory loss.

"What's your name, kid?"

"It's Roxas. I don't remember anything else."

"Amnesia?"

"I think so..." Roxas stared at his hands. This was obviously a touchy subject. But there were questions Reno wanted answered! And what Reno wants, Reno gets. "What's your name?"

"Name's Reno. I was there when they hauled you off in the ambulance last night."

Roxas' head tilted to the side like a puppy when Reno mentioned that. He blushed and looked down at his hands again. "I..don't have any recollection of last night. I can't remember anything. It's like living the same day differently all the time." The doctor scribbled something down again. Reno felt sorry for the kid, really, he did. He laid a hand gently on the boy's head for reassurance. The doctor noticed that when he did, Roxas' eyes began to defocus.

This hadn't happened before and if it did, the other doctors overlooked it. "Sir. Remove your hand." Reno stared at him for a second before slowly removing his hand from the blonde mess and giving the doctor a weird look.

* * *

Reno had given him a sad look before coming over and laying his hand on Roxas' head. Everything had gone blank. He couldn't think and he could feel his eyes going out of focus. Everything was a white blur. He could vaguely hear someone say something and a weight being taken off of his head. His eyes came back into focus. The first question that came to his head was 'who are these people?' and the next one was 'where am I?'. The question he asked though, surprised all of them.

"Where's Mom?" The doctor looked down at him from his stance beside he and Reno.

"Your mother? Do you remember her?"

"Well, sure. Every kid remembers his mother, you idiot." Reno said. The doctor nodded, solemnly. "No matter what happens, you always remember your mother. Right kid? What was her name?"

Roxas stared into space for a second, looking sad for a reason he didn't know. "Her name was Aerith. She's gone now."

The doctor scribbled on a paper that was attached to his clipboard. This information was important in locating the child's parents. "Last name? You seem to be remembering everything now. That's good."

Roxas shook his head though. "Her last name was Gainsborough. She never married my father though. He's in Peru." Before Roxas could speak more about his family for he certainly was remembering quite a lot, the angry nurse threw open the door. The sudden shouts from the angry nurse behind Reno surprised him and he whirled around. The tip of his finger grazed across Roxas' arm.

There was a bright light and Roxas jumped a little. He opened his eyes when the pain in the back of his head subsided and looked around. Where was he? There were people he didn't know and the doctor looking person kept asking him about his family. He didn't know anything about his family!

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Doctor." A red head who was arguing with the nurse turned around, a puzzled look on his face.

"You mean you don't remember? Your mother's name was Aerith Gainsborough. Your father's in Peru." Roxas didn't know what the Red was talking about. Aerith? Peru? Who's Peru?

"Who're you?" Roxas found himself asking. He was the only one there not entirely dressed in white, save for some bald guy in the back. The red head laughed for some reason. "Hey Rude, he's like a goldfish, yo."

"How am I like a goldfish?" The Red smirked.

"Well, goldfish lose their memory every few seconds, yo. You remind me of a goldfish."

"But goldfish lose their memory every few seconds and I can remember what the doctor said a minute ago. He asked me 'Do you know your father's name?' I don't think I qualify as a goldfish now." Roxas felt unnerved. He could see the baldman staring him down, despite the sunglasses. He squirmed in his seat and Reno patted him on the head. The light came back every time he did and it hurt his head.

"Where am I and who are you people?" Red laughed and Baldy looked thoughtful. The doctor beside Roxas scribbled away and the nurse began to check his monitors. No one answered him and Roxas sat there, confused as ever. The bald man came over and sqwatted down to be eye level with Roxas, who tilted his head to the side.

No one expected what was happening, nor for Rude to be the cause. "Red's name is Frederick Haans. You're in Delaware right now." Roxas nodded, accepting the information. He was glad to know Red's name. He was a curious person and Frederick looked to be interesting.

Rude stood up and told Reno to go give Roxas a hello.

Reno did as he was told and pranced up to him. "Heyo! What's up, Roxas? Rude, my buddy, told me to come say hello. Apparently my name's Frederick Haans now. Ha!" Reno ruffled the boy's hair and grinned down at him.

Rude came back over, noticing the same expression of pain on the boy's face. His eyes had defocused and he currently had them clenched together. "Roxas." Rude said plainly. "Who is this?" Roxas blearily looked up at Reno, shaking his head. He didn't know. What was with the random question? "Who are you?"

"My name is Roxas." He said, while massaging his temples with both hands. He had a little headache. What a bother it was..

Rude motioned for the nurse to come back over, but she was on the telephone connected to the wall. It must have been pretty darn important because she hushed him and went on talking. She hung up the phone after a while and decided to announce the news, but not before Rude cut her off.

"He loses his memory every time he's physically touched. If physical contact should occur for more than a minute, he would most likely pass out." The nurse and doctor were astounded. How could a security guard show them up like that?

The nurse shook her jealousy off and told them, "The man I spoke with on the phone was no one other than Mr. Shinrah himself. He wanted to know of the boy's condition, seeing as he is paying for the boy's stay here. I told him of his condition and it seems that he wishes to have the boy checked into the mental care facility down the street until his amnesia is gone. He's certain that the best doctors there could most likely get this all cleared up. If the boy's parents are not found within 6 months, he will have the city place Roxas under his permanent care."

The doctor listened, but was busy putting sedatives into Roxas' IV to put him to sleep for a while so he could be well rested and heal faster. "Okay. We'll check him out and get him transferred there as soon as lunch."

The only thing Roxas saw before slipping into unconsciousness was Reno's frightened but protective stare. Reno would find his parents, that was sure. He wouldn't let someone else fall to Rufus even if his life depended on it. 'Well, maybe not to that extreme..' Reno thought, before Rude pulled him out the door.

The next time Roxas would wake up, he would be in a little twin sized blue bed in the Mental Care Facility down the street getting his life messed up even more.

* * *

Buuuuu! No Axel this chapter. He'll be here soon though. This is kinda what happened to get Roxy into the Loony Bin. (If you'd even call it that. cuz well, he's not exactly loony. XD) Well, this set mostly everything up. Cept for the Axel parts..Haffta fit those in later. Yes? Yeah..everyone loves Axel. If you don't, why are you here??? Cuz you love me, right? Aww..cool. X3

Um..I worked real hard on this, you gotta believe me. I got the idear for this in the shower and started writing it the next day cuz at the time it was like, 2 in the morning. haha, yeah.

Well, I'll be blunt this time around. Please review! It'd make me happy to see that you love this story too! Maybe just like it a little. I'd love to have feedback on the story I feel most passionate about.

Later! Expect an update in about a week or two!

~Akilina-chan


	2. Chapter 2

Sqwee! Well, I'll keep this as short as I can. (I like to ramble) My author notes are at the end. Read them, I command you! (Sorry for the longness of them. :( I apologize)

Oh, and my internet is screwy..=w= And good news! I'm already writing out the next chapter.

Just so you know you're being thought of....

...Thanks are in order. To the following, I extend warm hugs and yummy e-muffins fresh out of my e-oven: **A perfect mistake**, **The Emerald Shapeshifter**, **reddoggie**, **Dorkyducky117**, **StarsAtMidnight29**, **PyroTori**,** MaiOfTheMoon**, and** MarlyXI**.

Hehehe...and you Story Alerters thought you'd get off without a word from me..

Review next time and make me uber happy instead of just happy. I love you all! You're what make me keep going. Without you guys, I'd be nowhere.

Without further ado,

* * *

Roxas didn't know what to think when he found himself warm and not very comfortable in a soft hospital like bed pushed up next to a cream colored wall. He looked around him at the empty room, only it wasn't that empty. Right across the room sat another blonde, much like himself, staring straight at him. The other blonde seemed to be in his own little world. Roxas pushed the comforter off of him and swung his legs over the side, seeing the khaki pants he didn't quite remember to be wearing. But then again, he didn't remember much at all. The other occupant in this strange room seemed to snap out of his daze as he took in the now conscious state of Roxas. His eyes brightened and he bounded over to Roxas' bed, stopping when he was a foot away from it. He smiled brightly.

"Do you know where we are?" Roxas had asked. The blonde grinned and immediately snapped on a look of respect and stood straight up, bringing his arm to a salute.

"General Garglesworth, sir, permission to speak, sir?" Roxas blinked in surprise. He was a general? And that was his last name?!

"Permission.....granted?" Roxas had replied in his confusion.

"Sir, you have awoken in the military base's hospital quarters. The war is still going, we're currently being overrun by the zombies but we're trying our best. You received a blow to the head by one of our own soldiers who had gone haywire; we are taking the necessary precautions to have him punished to the maximum extent of the law." Roxas nodded in confirmation, accepting the newly given information without hesitation. So he was a general in some war with aliens and he got knocked out cold by one of his own men who were going to have the maximum punishment of the law? Roxas shook his head. His subordinate tilted his head to the side, silently wondering what the boy before him was thinking about.

"That's no way to address your general, Private." Roxas found himself saying as he stood up, looking his subordinate in the eye. The other couldn't hold it in much longer, he doubled over in laughter. One of Roxas' eyebrows shot up.

"Oh boy, you're good. I could probably have taken that all the way! But your face! It was just too good! You were so serious! Gahahah! I'm just your roommate, kid! My name's Demyx" He continued to laugh and Roxas was very ubberly confused. Where was he again? Obviously not some military base. It looked like they were in a hospital of some sort. He spotted the door and wandered toward it, leaving his possible room-mate where he was.

He started to open the door, his roommate gave a startled, "No, back away!" but Roxas didn't care. It turned out that he really should have listened to his roommate's advice. The door swung open abruptly and whacked Roxas' nose, sending him down to the floor.

"Oh, confound it all. That's the third time today. Why can't you guys just stay in bed? It'd make my job a little easier and more fun." The nurse waggled his eyebrows at Demyx, who giggled and bounded over in response.

"Nurse Riku! You showed up today!" The nurse backed away from Demyx before he could be enveloped in a hug that would most likely crush his ribs together and turned to help Roxas off the floor when he realized he wasn't supposed to touch the kid.

"Such a shame too, you're so damn cute." He winked at Roxas. Demyx, who knew nothing of Roxas' condition, gave Riku a confused look before offering a hand to help Roxas up. Riku swatted it away and Roxas got up without anyone's help, feeling oddly weird after being refused for help by this 'nurse'.

Demyx eyed Riku's appearance closely, "What happened to the pink nurse outfit? Where's the tight dress?" Innocently said, but Demyx's demeanor had changed into one of knowing more dirty knowledge than his appearance suggested. Riku smirked and shook his head.

"Tifa made me get rid of it. She said it would be too much for her to handle. Apparently, I look great in it." He said with a grin.

"Aw, that's a shame. Now you're stuck with....what are those?"

"Scrubs, I do believe. Now, my fair maiden, I must inform you of Sir Roxas here." He said with a large sweeping gesture to where Roxas was standing in confusion, trying to work out who they were and where he was.

"Oh?" Demyx said, mimicking all aspects of The Thinker.

"That is absolutely perfect posture, m'dear. Now Demyx, Roxas here has a condition." Demyx nodded his head sarcastically. Who here didn't? "A condition you'll have no trouble following, I hope. You see, Demyx, he's got amnesia. But not just any old amnesia, no! His mind is wiped clean every time he's whacked upside the head, or poked in the side. Any physical contact wipes him clean, really. No touching if you want him to remember you or if you want him to stay healthy and get better."

Demyx nodded and skipped over to his bed to sit and flip through a magazine he had laying there. Roxas glanced over; surprised to see that it was a magazine advertising for all sorts of knives and swords. So many sharp things were in the magazine; many Roxas knew the names of and many more that he didn't even know existed. Roxas saw Nurse Riku shake his head for what seemed like the zillionth time today.

"They'll kill me if they find out I gave that to you. You're supposed to be getting over your obsession. Oh well. Hey Dem, the doctor wants to see Roxas in a little while. Take him there for me? I've got a little problemo to tend to." Demyx nodded his approval but didn't remove his eyes from his magazine, seemingly in a hypnotized state.

Demyx smirked and realized what Riku meant. "Is that problem about five feet tall with a good two inches added?" Riku blushed and shuffled out of the room, leaving a very still confused Roxas and an 'anything-sharp-fascinates-me' Demyx who was grinning ear to ear at Roxas. "He's the biggest flirt I've ever seen. His latest victim is Yuffie Kisaragi, 5'2, black hair. She's another nurse here, but you'll see that soon enough. Come come, we'll explore our people jungle." He hopped off the bed and headed toward the door, leaving Roxas to contemplate following or not. He did, of course. A doctor wanted to see him!

They walked out, with Demyx leading, all the way until they came to another door, which Demyx reached up, and cautiously knocked on.

"Come in," a gruff British voice said, and Demyx turned the knob, and opened the door to reveal a room, much similar to the one they had just left. It had the same cream colored walls, and two beds, each pushed up against a different wall. Sitting in one of the beds was a boy, of about seventeen, with periwinkle hair covering half of his face. When Roxas looked over at him, he quickly averted his eyes. In the other bed, was another person with black hair that had a single gray streak through it. He had an eye patch on one eye, and a scar on his face.

"Hey Demyx! What brings you in today, fine chap?" the one with the eye patch had asked, in a British accent.

"I got a new roommate, and I'm introducing him to everyone!" Demyx said, and then he turned to Roxas. "That's Xigbar. He's got multiple personality disorder. Everyday, he's someone new! It's kinda exciting actually. Oh, and he's only 22! Everyone thinks he's like, fifty something cause of the gray hair, but that's just because-"

"Demyx." Xigbar said warningly. Demyx blushed.

"Yeah..Anyway...Are you following everything alright?"

Roxas nodded, trying to store that information away, and Demyx kept talking.

"That one over there is Zexion. He's extremely anti social, and you probably won't hear him say anything, unless you're really lucky," Demyx explained. Roxas nodded again. That explained why he wasn't making eye contact with anyone.

"Xigbar... Zexion, this is Roxas!" Demyx introduced, and Xigbar smiled.

"Why, 'ello, Roxas," Xigbar said, waving.

"Erm... hi," Roxas said, and Demyx looked at Zexion.

"Aw, come on, Zexy. Can't you give him even the tiniest greeting? Maybe a wave, a nod, or a smile... Even a look in his general direction?" Demyx asked, and Zexion just shook his head ever so slightly, keeping his eyes down.

"Oh well. I tried," Demyx said, turning back to Roxas. They both walked out of the room and headed down the hall.

"What was with the eye patch thing?" Roxas asked. Demyx gave a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

"Um...well, me and him..the spork...and...the baking soda... and Xally...then there was the wall.." Demyx stammered, tripping over his words and finally ending up throwing his hands in the air and shouting, "Oh, it's a long story we really don't need to get into that right now!" Roxas left the subject drop, not wanting to know what exactly happened and regretting he ever asked in the first place. Demyx led him down the hall further until they reached a living room of sorts. It had two round tables in the back, a very large window in the middle of them giving everyone who ventured into the room a view of a lovely flower garden outside. Two exits were visible, one they were standing in and the other on the other side of the room, leading out to the same hallway they were in. A couch sat in the middle of the large room facing a flat screen television mounted on the wall.

Sitting on the couch, staring intently at the huge television, was a blue haired man with an 'X' shaped scar reaching across the bridge of his nose and onto his cheek. He turned his attention to Demyx and Roxas when they entered.

"Why hello, Demyx. Who is that you've got with you?" He asked, seeming oddly calmer than most people. His tone was so peaceful; it made Roxas feel more relaxed just listening to him.

"Hey Saïx!" Demyx greeted. "This is Roxas, he's my new roomie, but be careful not to touch him or he'll lose his memory." He gave Saïx a warning look and Saïx slowly nodded, smiling ever so slightly.

"This is Saïx," Demyx said quietly so Saïx wouldn't hear him. "He's bipolar, so you never really know when he's gonna go off at you, and get really angry. Although, right now, by the sound of it, he's on some sedatives, so you should be safe. He must have already had an outburst this morning." Roxas nodded, hoping he would be able to remember all this new information. Apparently, he had some type of weird amnesia.

"Does he know the television is off?" Roxas whispered into Demyx's ear. Demyx laughed a little.

"Maybe."

"I'm glad to meet you, Roxas." Saïx said, turning his gaze over to the smaller blonde by the door.

"It's nice to meet you too?" Roxas answered as someone came up behind Demyx and him standing in the doorway.

"Excuse me," a soft voice said, and Roxas turned around to see a frail looking blonde girl, carrying a drawing pad and a few pencils. Roxas stepped out of her way, and she walked past him to take a seat at one of the round tables in the back corners. Once she was sitting down, she set down her notebook and pencils, carefully arranging them in a neat line from shortest to longest.

"Who's that?" Roxas asked, turning to Demyx.

"That's Naminé. She's extremely OCD, but be careful. She's got quite a weak heart and if you mess anything out of line she'll have a heart attack and pass out. I asked Nurse Tifa why that happens and she said it was because she lived all alone in a big empty mansion castle thing with nothing to do but straighten things up and that's what turned into the biggest case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that she'd ever seen." Demyx shrugged and led him over to where Naminé sat, still arranging her pencils.

Once she was done, Demyx greeted her with a smile. "Hi Nami!" She looked up at him and returned the grin.

"Hello Demyx." She said as her eyes traveled to Roxas. "Hello, who are you?" She asked politely.

"I'm Roxas and I think I'm Demyx's new roommate." He said and Naminé held out her hand. Demyx jumped in front of her before Roxas could reach out and accept the handshake. As he did this, he accidentally brushed up against Roxas' arm, whose eyes went out of focus for a second. Then Roxas looked back up, confused, as did Naminé.

"Where," He paused and looked around. "Am I?" Roxas asked slowly, and Demyx grinned evilly before answering.

"¡Señor! ¡Holá!" Demyx said as he attached a fake mustache and threw on a very random and out of place sombrero. He threw one onto Naminé as well. The sombrero landed lopsided and Namine rushed to fix it straight, standing up and turning around to the window to see her reflection. "¿Hablas español? No se preocupen. ¿Qué tal?"

Naminé came back over and sat down. Roxas peered over to her. Naminé looked confused at Demyx's antics, but to Roxas it was all real. "Am I in Mexico or Spain? Where am I?" He asked.

"You're in the Shinrah Mental Care Unit. It's a facility to care for those with severe mental needs. Not stupid mental, but wacky mental." She replied, voice quiet as she picked up a pencil and opened her notepad. She was very confused. Roxas should know all this already. He stood there thinking as Demyx turned to her with a look of disappointment.

Demyx somberly dragged off his sombrero. "You're no fun! Couldn't you have just played along?" Demyx whined. Naminé just sat there, looking more and more confused by the second. Demyx sighed. "I guess I should have told you sooner. Roxas has amnesia, but not normal amnesia. You can't touch him, alright? Or else he'll go blank." Naminé looked apologetic.

"Sorry, I tried to shake his hand. I had no idea." She said as she methodically turned back to her sketches.

"It's alright" Demyx clapped his hands together to get everyone in the room to pay attention to him. He delved into a rant, introducing Roxas to everybody. Roxas then noticed that there were three other people in the room besides the two blondes around him. Another blonde who was playing a card game with himself, some weird man with blue hair just staring at Demyx as if waiting for orders, and a very peculiar looking red head sulking in his chair and staring at his shoes were all in the room with him. He caught Roxas' attention the most. Without telling Demyx where he was going, because honestly, he didn't know the guy, he walked carefully over the room to the man.

The red headed man didn't look up at him when he approached. Roxas leaned over to look, his hands on his knees and his head tilted to the side. He had strange looking dark purple tattoos under his astonishing jade green eyes. It was then that Roxas realized the other teen was staring straight at him. "Oh!" Roxas jumped and stood back up, still trapped within the piercing gaze the other was giving him. It seemed angry...

"Uh…I was just wondering…Mm.." Roxas stammered, fidgeting nervously. That glare...it was a look of pure hate. "Who..are you?" The other's eyes widened considerably before he stood up, snarling. His eyes narrowed back into their practiced glare. He was definitely angry.

"That's not funny, Sora." He growled. Roxas could tell he was resisting the urge to hit and tear something apart. He stormed toward the exit, leaving Roxas there, hurt and confused.

"Who's Sora?" Roxas said quietly. "My name's Roxas.." The red head stopped dead in his tracks in the second doorway. He turned around, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Roxas softly smiled at him, urging him to come back over so he could properly introduce himself. The other did, looking very sheepish.

"Hi, I'm Roxas. I've never seen you before in my life." Roxas said, feeling remotely chipper. There wasn't any sense in hanging on to the anger the red head had exhibited toward him only seconds ago. It wasn't technically directed toward him anyway.

"Sorry I snapped. I'm Axel. That's A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

"A-x-e-l...yeah, I think I do." Roxas said, smiling again. He was glad Axel's eyes no longer held any anger. Instead, they were alight with playfulness and curiosity. "So, um, Axel..who's Sora?"

Suddenly, a great commotion could be heard coming down the hall. Everyone's chatter died down and they all turned their attention to the hallway where two guards dressed in black were escorting a tanned figure with brown hair down the hallway. "I don't see what the problem is, Reggie! I didn't do anything! I'm telling you, I walked in Lexy's room and there he was, flat as a pancake under the dresser. I didn't kill him, the bed did!" He yelled, floundering for words.

"The bed killed him, right." He said, sarcasm oozing from his words. "And I suppose the dresser that was on the other side of the room magically walked over and fell onto him, huh?" Reginald said sarcastically.

Sora scoffed. "You know Lexaeus. He likes to lift heavy things. He was probably rearranging the furniture when he sat down to take a break and it collapsed on him, causing the dresser to fall too." The guard who was Reginald sighed and nodded to the other guard. They both picked up the teen and carried him by his elbows further down the hallway.

Demyx, who was keeping an eye on Roxas to make sure Axel wouldn't hurt him, stepped away from Naminé after excusing himself and walked out into the hall. He did a double take at was on the floor and sighed, bending over to retrieve the item. His eyes rolled, "Rest in piece, Lexaeus. We'll try hard to miss you."

"What did you find?" Axel said, eyes narrowing again in anger.

Demyx laughed and held up a little baggie of screws. "From Lexaeus' bed, I presume. Stupid little murderer..He's messed up if he thinks killing people is fun.." Demyx threw the screws under the couch and sat down, telling Saïx to sit on the floor so he could braid his hair.

"That was Sora?" Roxas asked. He suddenly could see why Axel had glared at him. No one likes people that kill for fun and Roxas looked a hell of a lot like Sora. Even he could see the resemblance. He had the sudden feeling that Sora was going to be trouble for him in the future. Axel nodded at Roxas' question.

"Well, Axel..Nice to meet you." Roxas said, extending his hand for Axel to shake. Axel looked hesitant but took the hand anyway. And for once, Roxas got to keep all his memories.

* * *

To be continued...

LOL

Whew, it's finally finished. The second chapter! *does a victory dance* I'm so excited to hear some response to this story. Seriously. I like the story. Do you like the story? Is it any good? On a scale of one to ten, where would you rate it? One being the worst and ten being the best. Be honest, now.

I confess! (Since we're being honest here) I had to have help. My help was resistant at first, but she caved because she's a good uke. :) Not my uke, but...my other best friend's uke. They're married. And, look at me..I'm giving you informations you shouldn't know. ehehe..*sweatdrop* Anyways, she wrote like, 600some awesomesauce words for this chapter. I'm very thankful. Very VERY thankful. This chapter wouldn't be out if it weren't for her. So, everybody..Give a round of applause for Dorkyducky117~! Or otherwise known as Hiei. :3

And considering we're being honest, this is exactly 4 days late. :'( I promised 1-2 weeks and it's been 2 weeks and 4 days. I apologize! I'm not good with time!

_I need your help though! I want to improve, I can't do that without criticism. So please, go all out. _

_What would you like to see in this story? How long should it be? Are there any characters you want thrown in? What do you think should happen next? _

I want answers. (I'd demand, but I'm not all that threatening over the internet. lol)

Thanks for reading! Come back next time!

What a long author note...I just looked up at it. Now, I've remembered something important..I KNOW I put 'romance' on one of the categories and the main two characters are Roxas and well, Axel. The story _is_ about Roxas and Axel, but I'm wondering if I really should make it into an AkuRoku. Yes, or no? It'll be a poll on mah profile, so make sure to vote.

Yes, 'romance' in the category was all a ploy to get you all to read this.

I'll change it if the majority of the votes say no. If not, well, I'll be AkuRoku-ing this up. (But not too much or I might get in trouble by a couple people.) And if you're wondering what the stuff in the parenthesis means...No lemons or limes. :) That's probably a turnoff for all you perverts out there. Oh well.

What? I'm just being honest.

~Akilina


	3. Chapter 3

Ergh, okay. So, my author notes were huge last last chapter, so I will not ramble like last time. I will say one thing. This chapter is long only because I love you all. Especially those who reviewed. And, my thank yous! Yes, I'm still thanking you story alerters. I mentioned you in the last chapter, but I'm mentioning you again because I know you read the story.

To the following, I extend unexpected glompings and yummy slices of e-pie fresh out of my e-oven, it's whatever flavor you desire it to be: **A perfect mistake**, **The Emerald Shapeshifter**, **reddoggie**, **Dorkyducky117**, **StarsAtMidnight29**, **PyroTori**,** MaiOfTheMoon, MarlyX1, WingedAngelGuardian, Moonheart37327, Moonlight of Thunderclan, TheDeadestPersonALIVE, timydamonkey, Lia. Chii, Azure Teriques, **and** Destiny's Fury.**

Thank you guys so much! You're the wind to my sails, the sun to my shine, the ink to my pen, the water to my boat, the seed to my field, the leaf to my branch...yeah..you get it. I just can't live without you guys! Well, maybe I could..maybe.

Enjoy!

P.s. The disclaimer is in the previous chapter. It says I don't own anything, yanno?

* * *

"Sir, the travel records." A gruff voice said as he handed his boss a very large file. It was filled with the names, pictures, and information for every person who left the country for Peru. Surprisingly, there were quite a few. Who knew Peru could be so popular this time of year?

"May I ask why you need them, sir?" The Turk, the leader to be more precise, asked sternly, but with a sense of 'yeah, I'm asking, but you don't have to answer. I know who the lead man is.' All in all, Tseng was a pretty weird fellow. Not that he was incompetent, no, he was the best. Best of the best, really. Just weird.

The president of the ShinRa Company opened the files, rummaging through them before pulling out a lone paper with a faint blurry picture of two men. He swiveled his chair to face the giant window behind him. Looking down in to the city below his eighteen stories of elevation, he grinned maliciously to himself.

"Soon," Rufus said to no one in particular, disregarding the fact that Tseng still didn't know what he was talking about. No Turk ever did. They did what they were told and never asked questions. Save for that one Tseng had just asked. Honestly, Rufus didn't think he'd be able to get by without his Turks. They did anything and everything he wanted them to. "This will be mine to control." He snapped out of his daze, daydreaming about the future, and held the sheet of paper from earlier over his chair.

"Tseng, take two others to retrieve these two men. Bring them back to me. The dark haired one is to be kept alive or his brother will leave us for sure. The blond, well, you can do whatever you like with him. Just make sure it looks like an accident…" If Tseng wasn't confused earlier, he was now. So, his orders… Take two others to retrieve these two guys on their vacation to Peru. The blond, dead or alive. The other is to be kept alive.

"Yes sir." And he disappeared without a sound. Rufus smiled to himself again, looking over the papers in his hands.

"Oh, Roxas," He whispered to himself, keeping his voice low on purpose as to not alert the other Turks on guard duty outside of his door of his little habit of talking to himself. "It's a pity you're so recognizable. Too bad you had to fall into my hands, but do not fret. You won't remember anyway."

* * *

Peru was a wonderful place. It was the beginning of spring in the wonderful country and Cloud was having the time of his life! Given that he was supposed to be there for business purposes, why couldn't he enjoy it like a vacation! He'd even convinced his best friend Zack to skip work and leave it to his brother to come with him. In actuality, Cloud never liked to go to different countries alone so it was a huge relief that Zack had said yes and went with him. He was pretty handy too! Zack carried all the luggage and bags and stuff. Cloud didn't have to do anything really!

He checked his watch. They had at least an hour before the meeting with the president person, they could maul around in the marketplace for a little while. "Zack," Cloud stretched out his name, exaggerating the lone syllable. "Can we go to the market place for a while?"

Zack looked up from his comfortable position lying on his stomach on the squishy hotel bed. Who knew they had hotels in Peru? Not him, at least. Wait, what? Zack's mind just comprehended what Cloud had asked. It was too hot to think. It was only spring, but so hot. Market...place...with people...sweaty people. "Ugh, do we have to? I mean, you've got that meeting with the prez. You can't blow it off, buddy. Why'd you accept this ambassador job anyway?"

"I didn't accept it." He clucked his tongue, straightening out his blue Peruvian shirt he had bought earlier in the week. "I was voted in, and I'm kinda good at what I do, so don't judge me." Cloud pouted a little. "Please, can we go to the market place? I really like Peru!" Zack groaned. What was he about to get himself into..?

"Ugh, fine. We can go. Lemme grab your stuff." Cloud beamed and slapped Zack, who was rising from the bed like he was doing push ups, on the back inadvertently causing him to fall back down. Zack 'ooffed' and glared at the pillow he was doing a face plant in. He'd have to remember to stop making Cloud so happy, however he did that. It seemed that he always got injured when Cloud was happy.

Must be bad karma.

So long, comfy hotel bed, air conditioned room....hello sun.

They were in the marketplace now. The market place in Lima probably had at least half of the people in the city there. Gosh. It's a good thing Cloud has spiky blond hair, otherwise, Zack was afraid that he'd lose the little emo spludge of sunshine. Zack squinted in the sunlight looking for Cloud and remembered he had sunglasses! On his head tangled up in Thank Yevon for Sam Foster!

Ugh, but they were ShinRa sunglasses…

Zack used to work for the military unit of ShinRa, called SOLDIER, and he'd always steal the cool gadgets that they gave him. Like, these sunglasses, for example, were something he snuck off with when he left. They were actually a sort of battle goggle thing. Zack didn't' remember. It's been forever since he's been in SOLDIER. He took a job as a doctor, a job that he should be at right now. Anyways, the glasses...Zack didn't like to admit he liked shoujo anime and manga, but he did, and the goggles reminded him of Angelic Layer battle headsets only in sunglasses form.

Okay, train of thought backspace.

Cloud, where was Cloud?

He looked around and saw nothing. No blond hair, no spikes, just endless Peruvian people out shopping!  
"Dang it, Cloud, where'd you go?!" Zack swayed a little due to the sun, how Cloud managed to stay out in this heat was amazing. Cloud was from some cold place, Zack couldn't remember where exactly, so wouldn't it be logical for him to be in some kind of physical distress?

A message flashed across the screen of his sunglasses. 'ShinRa forces ahead.'

...

It took a moment to sink in until he remembered about something. Something important. "Crap. CLOUD!"

"What?" Zack blinked a couple times and slowly turned his head around to his left. There was Cloud. Zack's eye twitched.

"Dang it, Cloud! You had me worried! Where'd you go?"

"Over there." Cloud said, pointing to a fruit stand a street over. "I bought this. They said it was special." Zack stared at the small yellow star shaped fruit. It looked so.....gay.

"You're weird, Cloud." The message from before flashed in his glasses again, reminding Zack of what might be a potential threat. Have to get away..quickly.. Zack grabbed Cloud's hand when he saw a very out of place Turk.

"What are you-" Tseng, the Turk that Zack had seen, looked over and spotted them. He reached for something, Zack didn't see, all he saw were the fricken sunglasses screaming at him to 'caution'. Stupid thing..

"Just hurry up!" Zack cried as he ran with Cloud out of the crowd of people, Tseng hot on their tail. Owch, fire. They pushed and shoved any people that were in their way out of their way and ducked into an alleyway; running down it and pushing crates and barrels down to hopefully prevent Tseng from catching up.

As they were running, Cloud still clueless as to why they were exerting this physical exercise, someone grabbed Cloud and pulled him inside a small clay house. Zack skidded to a stop and backtracked to the civilian home, ready to pound whoever had kidnapped Cloud. As soon as he entered the door, he landed a punch right in the first person's face.

Reno staggered backwards, not expecting the harsh blow to his jaw. "What the flip! Ya don't haffta kill me over that, yo! I'm helping!" Zack grabbed Reno's collar, which was actually a Mexican poncho. Didn't Reno know where he was?

He almost landed another blow, but a thwap to his head turned his attention elsewhere. His grip loosened on Reno's woolen reddish poncho and his fist lowered to his side. Cloud was standing next to him, munching on his star shaped yellow citrus fruit without a care in the world except for the nosebleed Zack was about to give Reno. "You know he's my friend, right, Zack. Don't hurt my friends."

Reno snorted in laughter. "Cloud, buddy, you can't say stuff like that in monotone. It sounds weird, yo!" Cloud shrugged and sat down in a nearby chair. Who cared how he talked? Not him. He checked his watch. They'd have to get going soon. The president guy was waiting and he had to be there sooner than later. Cloud pointed at Zack and then to a chair beside him. Zack came over and sat down. Reno walked over, cradling his bruised jaw.

"Why is Tseng here chasing us?" Zack asked Reno.

"Well, ya see," Reno started, Rude came up behind him and handed him an icepack. "Thanks. You see, it's the same reason you probably came up with yourself. ShinRa's after you and I want to help."

"Why would you want to help? You're loyal to ShinRa. Why should we trust you?" Zack said; standing up, ready to leave. Cloud remained seated and tugged Zack's wrist, dragging him back down to sit in his chair.

"I found someone that you might think important." Cloud checked his watch again and realized Zack was right about standing up. It was time to leave or they'd never make it to that meeting. The future of America and their relationship with Peru was at stake! Cloud stood up, awkwardly looking at Reno to see if he had any qualms about it. He didn't, in fact, he just kept talking. "I was in Chicago, where the main office is, and late at night I found a kid passed out in an alley."

"Zack, we have to go." Cloud whispered. Zack stood up also, both of them moving toward the door.

"I had Rude do a background check. Cloud, ShinRa is planning to blackmail you. Zack, they're coming after you. They want you back in the SOLDIER forces."

Cloud turned around, "Blackmail me with what? They've got nothing on me."

"They have your son, Cloud." Zack stopped trying to pull Cloud out the door then. He was speechless. He almost dropped Cloud's bag of important who knows what on the ground from shock. When had he.....Who had he...what?

All of Zack's questions were answered though and his heart resumed a normal pace, "I don't have a son, Reno. We have to go." And with that, they were gone. Gone to see the president of Peru.

They walked to the President's specified meeting place, which wasn't very far, in silence the whole ways there. Zack not daring to speak a word because he knew Cloud had lied to Reno. He just knew. And Cloud, well, Cloud normally didn't talk much at all so he didn't even notice the heavy atmosphere surrounding them.

Zack decided to break the silence, "Cloud, you lied to Reno." Cloud shrugged and looked down at the ground sadly, a complete wave of depression overtaking him.

"It's true. I did."

"Then you have offspring and you didn't tell me?! What if what Reno said was true? You can't leave him with ShinRa!"

"He's not with ShinRa, Zack." Cloud snapped back at Zack's violent outburst of yelling. The Peruvians were staring, and Zack wasn't caring. Cloud thought they all must think American's were crazy now. Whoops. "He's with my father. His name is Aero, in case you were wondering.."

Zack stopped then. Cloud kept walking and didn't notice until he accidentally bumped into a woman's side. "Sorry." He said, forgetting that she probably couldn't understand him. He saw Zack slowly walking back up to him. When he got there, Zack slapped Cloud's head a little.

"You can't leave your son with the president of the United States! You idiot! But...I suppose Reno was wrong. He said he found him in Chicago. That's like, in Illinois. But what kind of name is Aero!? It's stupid! It's dumb! It...it's totally cool." Zack slumped over, and Cloud nodded, he knew exactly where his son was. He was with his wife and father while Cloud himself was here in Peru, on a mission to establish peace between the two countries. If only they could get to the president...Hurry up, Zack! "Couldn't you have at least named him after me?"

* * *

Yes, in fact, the boy Reno found was in Chicago, healing from a broken wrist. He was currently sitting in the recreation room with his room mate and his room mate's friend. They were an odd couple, always chatting quietly to themselves. Presently, the three were the only ones conscious in the room. Demyx, Roxas' room mate, as before stated, was excitingly describing something he did before he was stuck in the ShinRa mental care facility to his MPD plagued friend, Xigbar.

Roxas flipped through a notebook with informations he had written himself, looking for the page with all of Demyx's info on it. He'd willingly given it. It wasn't like he was a terribly secretive person, after all. Demyx was in for his wild imagination. He was diagnosed as delusional, although Demyx had told him to put in parenthesis that he just liked to make stories up, it was fun and entertaining. He also had an unhealthy addiction to sharp things; that was what Demyx figured he was originally in for but only kept longer because of the 'delusional' bit.

Xigbar was partly the same. He liked to pretend he was different people because he was insecure around people because he thought he wasn't exciting enough as a regular person. Demyx had told him Xigbar had been in two different wars and was exciting as he himself was. That was a lot, Roxas thought.

Demyx and Xigbar, however, when put together were their normal selves as long as no one else was in the room. They didn't bother with the fact that Roxas was there, he'd probably forget later anyway. Bad case of amnesia. But not normal amnesia, no, Roxas' amnesia had to get all prissy and make it so that whenever he was touched, he'd forget everything. The doctors still didn't know why.

He knew about these two, but what about himself? He didn't know anything at all...

"Demyx," Roxas called from his seat on the big comfy couch, "what's wrong with my wrist? Why does it hurt?"

Demyx looked up from Xigbar's lap; he was laying in it while he and Xiggy talked. "The doctors told me that you broke it trying to fend off some guy who was trying to mug you. You failed, by the way. He stole everything you had and then stashed you in an alleyway cause he thought you died. You must have passed out. The bugger even took your clothes, poor guy. The economy these days...Downhill. President Strife better be able to fix it soon. We just elected him in, I think. I can't remember." Demyx motioned to the television that was currently on the news channel.

"There he is! Right there, the tall blond guy. Gosh, a lot of people are blond these days." The President's grandchild stood by the president's side, looking smug. "You sure do look a lot like him, Roxy. But yeah, you were mugged by some hobo."

Roxas turned around in his seat to look at Demyx square in the eyes. "And that isn't some story you made up?" Xigbar laughed at that while Demyx flushed red.

"Man, he's got you down to a 't'. I think I might have said the same thing if I were him, Demi." Demyx flushed brighter and made a move to get up, but Xigbar held him down. He was keeping his lap warm. Haha, Demyx was a hot head.

"No, it isn't. Gosh.." Demyx continued to pout, staring up at the ceiling and refusing to look at Xigbar. Xigbar waved his hand in front of Demyx's face, only to have him turn his head away. Xiggy got fed up with it and leaned over, forcing Demyx to meet his eyes.

At that moment, Nurse Riku happened to walk by. "Well, if that isn't a sight." The two he was referring to immediately separated, standing up and chuckling to themselves nervously. Riku smirked; he knew what their game was. They'd known each other for a while now, actually. "Hey Roxas!" He called from outside the door. Roxas looked over to him then back at his book, trifling through the pages until he came to one with a picture of Riku drawn on it and all his info to go along.

"Hello, Riku." Roxas said waving. Riku gave a laugh.

"Huh, I guess Dr. Fair really does know what he's doing. I didn't think that notebook would be any help, but I guess it is. Yeah? You'll be like another Namine. She carries her sketchbook everywhere. It's annoying." Roxas nodded, forgetting who Namine was. "Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself. Dr. Fair wants to see you again. Come with me." Roxas carefully got up; Saix was lying on the floor, dead to the world. He had fallen asleep an hour ago due to some drugs the nurses gave him. Oh well. Stepping over him, Roxas made his way to the door and followed Riku back to the Doctor's office.

Entering quietly, because the sign on the door told him so, he stumbled in on a surprising sight to behold. Dr. Fair was constructing a shrine made out of pop cans. He was on a roll. Figuratively. He must have had at least 15 rows of cans. How very, undoctor-like.

"Um," Roxas coughed a little to get the doctor's attention. Unfortunately, Dr. Fair wasn't expecting the phone in his doctor's coat pocket to go off and ring so when he jumped, his hand bumped a coke can and the entire pyramid came crashing down on top of the doctor.

"Hold on, one sec, stupid tower. Hello?" The doctor talked for a bit to whoever was on the phone with him. Dr. Fair snapped the phone shut after a while and stared at Roxas, examining him. He grabbed a pop can off his desk and held it for a while. After successfully being able to not feel his fingertips, he placed them along Roxas' jaw. Roxas shivered a tiny bit, but nothing happened and Roxas was able to remember just about everything he knew in the past hour and a half. "That's exactly what Zack said he thought. You're a curious one. Listen Roxas, don't tell anyone, but I think I know what's wrong with you and who you are." Roxas nodded.

"Do you think you could tell me who I am?" Dr. Fair, who was obviously not Doctor Fair because Doctor Fair's name was Zack and unless this 'doctor' in front of him was loony and using third person then he wasn't the doctor, stared at him. Whoever was standing in front of him shook his head.

"Not yet. I'm sorry. You've got to keep a low profile and get out of here as soon as possible, understand? You're in danger." Roxas nodded and made a mental note to write that down in his notebook later. A knock at the door sounded and 'Doctor Fair' stood up straight, "Come in."

The door opened and there stood Axel. Roxas remembered him very well. Demyx had specifically told him to write him in the first page of his notebook and read it whenever he forgot. Axel was important, that, and Demyx had told him that Roxas could slightly possibly be in some sort of minimal danger if he forgot Axel, but Demyx didn't tell Roxas why...Needless to say, he was curious.

"Ah, Axel, what can I do for you?" 'Doctor Fair' said, taking on a professional tone to probably make it seem like he was at least trying to imitate the real doctor.

Axel had snorted a little, smirking. "Nice one, Terra. You'll get in big trouble if you get caught, yanno." Terra, who must have been the fake doctor because Roxas sure wasn't named Terra, gave a sheepish laugh, scratching the back of his head a little nervously. Roxas just then realized he'd been using the word 'doctor' a lot in his thoughts recently. Whoops.

"You've always been good with telling me and Zack apart. Keep it a secret, alright?"

"Of course. Roxas is supposed to come with me. I'm here to pick him up. Riku bribed me. He's with Yuffie." Terra nodded, looking like a schoolgirl when she's proposed with a bunch of juicy gossip. Sickeningly twinkly eyes shined as Axel told him more details of Riku and Yuffie's work relationship, most of which Roxas completely ignored. He wasn't even surprised when he kinda almost listened in and found out that Riku had another relationship with someone outside of work. Although, Axel didn't get a name or any other details, he was super positive that Riku was two timing Yuffie. Oh well. Roxas didn't like Yuffie anyway. The short ninja-wannabe nurse was too hyper for his liking.

"Hey, where's Ven? I thought he was supposed to fly in from California a couple days ago…" Axel commented. He was rather fond of Ventus, although, he was excessively violent and held quite a temper. Axel could relate somewhat. He had a wild temper himself...

"I don't know. I miss him though…"

"I do too. Hope he comes in soon. You know Terra, Roxas here looks exactly the same as Ven." Axel turned to Roxas, surveying the planes of his face, the shape of his golden hair, and just about everything. That made Roxas blush.

Terra chuckled a bit. "They do say that there's someone that looks exactly like you out there in the world." Axel nodded and said his goodbyes. Axel and Roxas started walking back to the living parts of the hospital. The actual hospital bit was a whole other building. That was the building that people could see. The living quarters and whatnot was behind the medical building, safely from the view of kindly citizens.

Unable to successfully ignore the very awkward silence, Roxas busied himself with telling Axel what Terra had said. They seemed close, Terra and Axel. Roxas saw no problem with letting Axel know of what the raven haired not-doctor had told him. As he rambled, they eventually neared the Rec Room. Roxas softly apologized for talking so much.

"No problem, kid. If you need help with anything, you can always come to me. I sorta like you a little bit." Axel smiled at Roxas, making the shorter of the two smile shyly back. It was infectious, darn it.

"Thank you, Axel." In truth, Axel really did like Roxas a lot. He was so much better than that brown haired look a like sicko...Axel internally shuddered. Thinking of Sora brought a lot of painful memories back. Tifa said he should try to forgive Sora for what he did.

I've been trying, Axel thought, trying very hard.

He affectionately ruffled Roxas' shiny blond locks before stepping into the Rec. room where Demyx and Xigbar still were. Saix had been transported to the couch after Roxas had left with Axel. Roxas' eyes dilated and he swayed in his spot before following an unknown entity into whatever room he was in.

Demyx caught Roxas' curious glances and immediately caught on. Stupid Axel, not remembering about Roxas' amnesia…

Er, did he tell Axel of Roxas' amnesia?

...

Nope. He didn't. "Oopsies."

"Where am I?" Roxas asked to no one in particular. Axel gave him a strange look and Xigbar ignored him. Demyx bound up to little Roxy. This would be fun.

A wicked grin went to play on Demyx's pink lips and he faintly whispered the answer into Roxas' ear. "You're in Wonderland. A magical place, but one of so many woes." He gestured toward the table Xigbar was. "Have some tea!" He yelled a little too loudly for the proximity he was to Roxas' ear. Xigbar lazily pointed toward the tea kettle set in front of him. He nursed a small tea mug in his hand and refused to meet anyone's eyes.

Demyx hop-skipped over to the table, observing it and then loudly exclaiming that there wasn't enough room and demanding Xigbar to move over. He did, really slowly.

It was no joke that Axel was confused. He was confused beyond reason. Demyx never did this randomly, he always had a purpose. What purpose did he have to go all 'delusional' again!? None, and frankly, it was starting to rub Axel the wrong way. He was angry.

Roxas started to go over to the table, it looked like fun and the black haired one looked like he needed a friend and not someone pushing him all the time. Roxas could be his friend. He smiled, but it faltered as he caught a glimpse of bright red hair. Wow, that guy was interesting. Roxas couldn't remember anything about anyone, but when he looked at this strange lanky red head, he felt a pang of guilt. It frustrated Roxas that he couldn't' remember who this was. He knew he was supposed to, but he just couldn't! Maybe it was some sort of backwards deja vu..

Roxas tugged on a loose end of Axel's shirt to get his attention. Axel looked down at the blond ball of innocence. He looked so naive. It figured he wouldn't be used to Demyx yet, but Axel still wished he knew what Demyx was trying to pull. "I don't know, Roxas. Demyx is acting weird."

"How do you know me? I haven't introduced myself yet." Roxas said, matter-of-factly. Axel looked skeptic. Was Roxas trying to pull a joke now too? It wasn't funny. It made Axel's heart drop to his stomach.

"You...you introduced yourself to me five days ago. I'm Axel." He said, shakily taking a breath and pointing a long slender finger to himself. If it really was a joke, Roxas needed to stop right now. It definitely wasn't funny. Axel's knees started to buckle; he grabbed onto the back of the couch for support. "Did you...did you really forget me?" Axel said, so quiet Roxas wasn't sure he said it.

He nodded, smiling sadly. Roxas was sure this was the first time he had seen this person. Any of these people really. Roxas was suddenly aware of the heavy tension filled silence that hung in the air. Demyx was staring with wide eyes at Roxas, Xigbar looking almost the same. Almost, because the eyepatch was kinda in the way of his other eye. If he even still had it, that is. "I don't know you." Roxas said.

Axel was sure his heart skipped a beat. The hand clenching onto the couch turned white with strain. Axel's complexion drained of color; he was terrified. Terrified of being left behind and forgotten.

"I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you Axel." Roxas said, fidgeting nervously before turning away to join Demyx, horrorstruck, and Xigbar. Two other people that he wasn't sure he knew. He didn't, honestly. The chairs just looked comfortable. The mullet-headed one handed Roxas a notebook with Roxas' name scribbled all over the front.

Axel silently exited the recreation room. How could Roxas just forget him like that? It wasn't a joke, he could tell. Demyx looked horrified, he had noticed. Roxas forgot him and then turned his back and left him in a moment of distress. He felt his stomach clench and he hurried to his bathroom, just in time to empty his stomach into the porcelain toilet.

Demyx was worried. Axel was one of his best friends and he had just head on faced his worst fear. Axel was an orphan. Abandoned at the age of six, he had to face the cruelty of the world at such a young age. He was adopted by a lovely Hawaiian family when he was nine. He grew up learning the traditions of the Hawaiian family. He loved his family very much.

One thing his foster family had stressed upon whenever Axel was concerned about them abandoning him was the meaning of the word 'ohana.'((AN1)) Then something horrible happened, Axel's family left him. All alone on a lone island. No one was there but him. They had all been slaughtered. By who, you ask?

You wouldn't get an answer if you did.

Demyx arrived just as Axel had landed his stomach in the toilet. Demyx knelt down next to Axel, holding his hair back for him so it wouldn't get in the way. After Axel had washed out his mouth, he turned to Demyx, burying his face in his shoulder. Demyx gently hugged his best friend as he cried silently.

It wasn't fair, no, and it might never be okay. Nothing was fair in life. Demyx sure hoped to whoever was up there would smile on Axel. He'd been through so much. At that moment, Demyx really really loathed Roxas.

* * *

Oh, and MoonHeart, I hope you love me a lot. I put in Terra and Ven. I'm still working on Aqua. I know I got their personalities wacked up, but hey. Everyone's personality is wacked up here. Sorry for the OOC-ness!

See? You can request stuff! I'll do whatever you want, I swear!

Those suddenlink commercials are annoying. Just a thought.

By the way, I'm still not sure if this would be AkuRoku. I'm leaning toward it being more friendship than anything, but it's really up to you guys. Vote on the poll! And if you really wanted to move me along, send me a PM telling me why you voted yes or no. Please? This chapter is like, close to what kind of shounen-ai I would write. Nothing explicit, nothing too out there. Yeah, I should probably change the genre..

Oh yes, this chapter is 4,927 words. Cranked out in three days. :) Love me~!

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

~Akilina

Oh, AU1: If you haven't seen Lilo and Stich the movie, you fail. You'd know what ohana means if you did. Hopefully, you all have, in fact, seen that movie. If you haven't, you fail epically. Go watch it.


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